SAN DIEGO, CA - The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) will award Ronald Wada, Senior Counsel in the San Francisco office of Tafapolsky & Smith, LLP, with the 2011 Edith Lowenstein Memorial Award for excellence in advancing the practice of immigration law. He will receive the award on June 16, 2011, during AILA's Annual Conference to be held in San Diego, CA.

Mr. Wada is honored for his devoted effort to illuminate and clarify key aspects of the EB-2 and EB-3 categories. His cutting-edge work surrounding the criteria for degree equivalency in the EB-2 and EB-3 categories has defined the state of the law on that subject. His Focus on EB2 & EB3 Degree Equivalency (published by AILA) and his column in Bender's Immigration Bulletin are brilliant and invaluable aids to the immigration practitioner.

In nominating Mr. Wada for this award, AILA member Naomi Schorr commented that his work "has the hallmark of clarity and practicality. Ron has expanded his work to follow the rulings of BALCA in regard to SVP and 'substantial equivalence.' His articles are timely, well-written, and provide much needed guidance to attorneys. The law surrounding degree equivalency and now substantial equivalence is exceedingly complicated and Ron's work has helped immeasurably in explaining it to practitioners."

Impressively, Mr. Wada's body of work goes beyond his extensive exploration of equivalency and substantial equivalence. He has previously served as Chair of the AILA Amicus Committee and Vice Chair of the AILA Nebraska Service Center Liaison Committee. He received an AILA President's Award in 2006 for his work on AILA's NSC Liaison Committee and his work on the landmark BALCA decision in Matter of HealthAmerica. He is also a past recipient of AILA's Dubroff Award for Outstanding Scholarship in Immigration Law.

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The American Immigration Lawyers Association is the national association of immigration lawyers established to promote justice, advocate for fair and reasonable immigration law and policy, advance the quality of immigration and nationality law and practice, and enhance the professional development of its members.